Citation: HAT Category VIII Stunning Effectiveness:
At approximately 0930 hours while performing humane handling verification, the following noncompliance was observed. Plant employee, Mr.____, attempted to stun a Holstein dairy cow with the non-penetrating captive bolt, however the cow remained standing. He attempted to stun the cow a second time with the non-penetrating captive bolt and again the cow remained standing. During both of these failed attempts I saw the non-penetrating captive bolt impact the cow’s head and heard the pneumatic sound of the device deploying. Mr.____ then used a penetrating captive bolt and the cow dropped to the floor and was rendered unconscious. Immediate regulatory control action was taken and the knock box was rejected (U.S. Reject/Retain Tag No. B40171242) until the establishment gave corrective actions and preventative measures. Mr.____, HACCP Manager, was notified of the establishment’s failure to comply with the regulatory requirements prescribed in 9 CFR 313.15. The knocking area was subsequently released after Mr.____ gave immediate corrective actions and preventative measures to ensure compliance with 9 CFR 313.15. Mr.____ had the cow’s skull sawed in half to view the captive bolt placement in relation to the brain. Examination of the animal’s head revealed two defects in the skull indicating employee error with regard to placement of the non-penetrating captive bolt stunner. This document serves as written notification that your failure to comply with regulatory requirements could result in additional regulatory of administrative action.

Regulation: 313.15 (a)(1) The captive bolt stunners shall be applied to the livestock in accordance with this section so as to produce immediate unconsciousness in the animals before they are shackled, hoisted, thrown, cast, or cut. The animals shall be stunned in such a manner that they will be rendered unconscious with a minimum of excitement and discomfort.

The failure to properly stun an animal at the Champlain Beef Inc. slaughterhouse is so commonplace in the industry that it shows how ineffective the Humane Slaughter Act and the other appropriate regulations really are.

To us, this proves that there is no such thing as humane slaughter, and that the only way to really protect the animals is to expose the truth to the public and convince them to stop eating animals and go vegan.

This is outrageous and despicable. It seems that the only way to stop animal cruelty on factory farms in the U.S. is for every person to become vegan. I can’t imagine being so heartless and callous to animals and then going home and eating dinner like you just got home from the office.

Marni, you hit the nail on the head. It’s the hardness of the human heart and soul that allows people not care about the pain and suffering they cause other living beings. They couldn’t have the Holy Spirit, because He brings peace and love, so they must have the spirit of the devil

Imagine, I had that discussion with a coworker today and he said ‘you don’t have children, people with children worry about other things, like school, what to feed them, etc.’ they don’t have time to worry about the animals.